All the latest and must-have information around the key business and economic
issues of the day.

David Cameron admitted yesterday that the government's plan to cut debt is "well behind where it needs to be". Speaking at the CBI conference, ahead of next week's Autumn Statement the prime minister conceded yesterday that tackling Britain’s debts was “proving harder than anyone envisaged”. So just how much will the Government borrow this year?

Official public sector finance data published at 9.30 this morning by the Office for National Statistics will provide a pretty good clue ahead of next week's Office for Budget Responsibility forecast, which will be published alongside Tuesday's Autumn Statement from the chancellor. Economists expect the government's preferred accruals-based measure of public sector net borrowing (excluding financial sector interventions) to fall to £6.8bn in October, down from £7.7bn last year. That would put the chancellor on track to meet his self-imposed targets - for now.

"It seems inevitable that the public finances will be increasingly pressurised over the coming months by muted economic activity eating into tax revenues and pushing up unemployment benefit claims, so the Chancellor looks unlikely to achieve his targets," wrote economist Howard Archer in a note to clients this week.

Asian shares have edged lower overnight amid fears about the ability of politicians on either side of the Atlantic to tackle huge debt burdens, although European markets are expected to open up slightly higher following yesterday's sell off. For the latest on the eurozone debt crisis and the market's reaction log on to our live blog. You can also find the Ambrose Evans Pritchard's latest take on the crisis at www.telegraph.co.uk.

There is another dose of bad news for beleaguered shareholders in Thomas Cook. The travel group has announced this morning that as a result of "deterioration of trading ... the company is in discussions with its principal lending banks" to secure new facilities and amend covenants. The group is to "delay its announcement of its full year results until these discussions are concluded". Ouch.

We have also got full year results from two of the UK's largest pub groups this morning - Mitchells & Butlers and Enterprise Inns. Despite the consumer downturn both are upbeat. But, there is little optimism at Nationwide, alongside half year results the building society has warned that market conditions are likely to remain difficult and that the impairment outlook for its commercial lending business has become more uncertain.

On the economics front we get the Bank of England's Systemic Risk Survey of banks and hedge funds at 9.30 this morning. They'll be no shortage of material I'd guess.

In the US, Wall Street economists will scrutinise the minutes of this month's meeting of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate setting committee, for insights into how the Fed is thinking about the economy. We'll also get a second estimate for how the US economy performed in the third quarter.

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Top of the agenda (part two)

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Quote of the day

"Austerity is the new normal."

Think-tank Reform in a paper called The Long Game, in which it questioned the Government's plans to restore growth.

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Figure of the day

£1,783,720 - The price of a yellow diamond ring being sold in the Fabergé shop which opened in central London yesterday.

The Wall Street Journal (£): The US congressional deficit-reduction committee failed to reach an agreement on slashing the US budget gap, a move that triggers mandatory cuts to military spending and some social programmes starting in 2013.

The Guardian: The world’s most famous value investor, Warren Buffett, arrived in Japan on the lookout for new investments, having identified the country as presenting a big opportunity.

US: On Wall Street, markets were knocked by the failure of a key Congressional committee to agree on a $1.2trillion (£766bn) deficit-cutting plan. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2.1pc at 11,547.30, while the S&P 500 finished 1.9pc weaker at 1,192.28.

UK: Debt troubles on both sides of the Atlantic dragged equities deep into the red. The FTSE 100 sank 140.34 points to 5,222.6 to a six-week low. The FTSE 250 tumbled 276.48 points to 9,767.88.

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Best of the broker notes

Analysts at Peel Hunt suggested that with its market value now standing at £600m, Home Retail Group “makes an attractive prospect for acquisition or private equity”.

Although the broker acknowledged that Home Retail “sits towards the top of the list of retailers we expect to deliver a Christmas profit warning”, it pointed out that Home Retail’s market capitalisation is effectively ascribing no value to the Argos chain.

“Despite such challenges, to ascribe a zero value to a business with an ongoing sales base of £3.8bn, which remains profitable and cash-generative, seems unsustainable to us,” said analysts. They added there was “clear value opportunity in Home Retail, with every penny of value that may be extracted from Argos representing a positive return”.

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Commodities

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January closed down 68 cents at $106.88. Gold prices fell $15 to $1,704. For all the latest on the commodities markets, log on here.

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The money markets

Sterling fell to a six-week low against a firm dollar on Monday and struggled against the euro as investors shunned riskier assets. The pound eased 0.76 cents to €1.1602 and fell 1.68 cents to $1.5626. For the latest on currency, log on here.

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